BLOG: Draisaitl and the Oilers work towards singular goal

EDMONTON, AB – Time has a way of narrowing your focus and as Leon Draisaitl enters double-digit seasons into his NHL career, his goal is clear – win.

It’s hard to believe the still 27-year-old is dawning on a decade of National Hockey League service. In the years since the Oilers selected the dynamic and fresh faced forward out of the Western Hockey League’s Prince Albert Raiders, Draisaitl has slowly cemented himself as a pillar in the Oilers pantheon of greats.

An Art Ross, a Ted Lindsay, a Hart Trophy, three 50 goal seasons and 744 points pad the resume of the veteran of 638 games in Orange & Blue. As the years have trickled by, the times spent in those colours have continued to get better and better.

“Yeah, it's a weird feeling because I still feel pretty young and like you [media member] said, going into my 10th year here with one organization,” Draisaitl said Thursday morning after the Captain’s skate. “Time just kind of flies by, but at the same time it's obviously so much fun and I’ve had some great years. Yeah, just kind of flying by.”

Draisaitl has returned to Edmonton early like most of his teammates looking to get a jump start on the upcoming season. He spent most of his summer in Toronto where his girlfriend – and many of his teammates -- are situated. Outside of the few viral moments like when himself and Connor McDavid were caught taking in some tennis at the National Bank Open, Draisaitl says he spent most of his summer training, skating, and preparing to come in fresh for early September. 

The finely focussed summer was intentional. The Oilers feel they are so close to achieving the full potential of the team and finding the balance between ambition and recovery was important. Now that the team has arrived, they are all working with a singular goal in mind. 

“I mean we're determined. You can see it in the fact that everyone's here working hard and trying to get things going early and obviously there's one goal here, whether that pans out that way, we'll see,” Draisaitl said. “One thing is guaranteed. That we're going to do everything in our power to achieve that goal and get to that point.”

“Obviously we want to win,” Draisaitl continued. “I mean, you guys write about it every day. We say it almost every day. We want to win a Stanley Cup here. There's no doubt about that. I think we have to be careful in putting too much pressure on ourselves in that way. There are 31 other teams that are trying to do the same thing that we're doing. We're not the only team here, so there's going to be some ups and downs, but I think we got the group in here to do it. We got the right mindset. We've learned a lot over the last couple of years and get off to a good start, and that's the most important thing.”

For Draisaitl and the Oilers, the process to getting a good start begins with some baby steps. The first box is checked off with getting the whole team to Edmonton early to start building chemistry before the coaches even have a chance to start implementing systems. The team will break for Main Camp shortly after the Penticton Young Stars Classic, which runs from Sept. 15-18, and then Head coach Jay Woodcroft and his staff will start laying their fingerprints on the Oilers roster.

The focus on ‘the days business’ will begin, but the hope is the Oilers have built up enough experience over the last two season that they are able to get a jump on their competition come the Oct. 11 season opener against the Vancouver Canucks. For a season with big dreams and Stanley Cup aspirations, the whole journey becomes moot if the Oilers do not first qualify for the playoffs.

“The same way you always do, try and get into the playoffs,” Draisaitl said of the Oilers approach to the regular season. “It's a grind, it's long. There's a lot of games. Build your game in segments, get off to a good start. We can talk about playoffs all we want, but if we're not in it to have a chance, then there's no reason talking about. So, we got to make sure we get there first.”